US Returns 3 Guantanamo Detainees to Their Home Countries

The United States transferred two Malaysian detainees from the Guantanamo Bay detention facility to their home country after they pleaded guilty to charges related to the deadly 2002 Bali bombings. The two also agreed to testify against the alleged mastermind of those attacks and others, according to a statement from the U.S. Department of Defense (Pentagon) on Wednesday.

The transfers, including that of a Kenyan man who had been held at Guantanamo for 17 years without charges, come at a time when human rights groups and others are pressuring the Biden administration to end the detention of more than 10 other men at the facility without charges. The move also comes amidst uncertainty over what the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump will do regarding the prison.

Prosecutors have stated that Mohammad Fareeq bin Amin and Mohammad Nazeer bin Lib worked for years with Hambali, an Indonesian leader of the militant group Jemaah Islamiyah, which is affiliated with al-Qaeda.

U.S. officials said that this included helping Hambali avoid capture after the October 12, 2002 bombings that killed 202 people at two nightclubs in Bali.

The two men pleaded guilty in January to conspiracy and other charges. The Pentagon said in a statement that their transfer comes after they provided testimony which prosecutors plan to use in the future against Hambali, the alleged mastermind.

Hambali remains detained at Guantanamo awaiting pretrial hearings in January regarding the Bali bombings and other attacks.

The Department of Defense announced the return of Mohammad Abdul Malik Bajjabou to Kenya on Tuesday.

The administration of former President George W. Bush established a military tribunal and detention center at the U.S. naval base to handle hundreds of detainees from around the world, part of the U.S. “War on Terror” following the al-Qaeda attacks on the U.S. on September 11, 2001.

After the release of the Kenyan detainee, only 29 detainees remain at Guantanamo. Fifteen detainees have been cleared of wrongdoing and are now awaiting acceptance by a foreign country. Three others are eligible for reconsideration of the charges against them, while four men are serving sentences, and seven others are undergoing military trials, including four accused of involvement in the September 11 attacks.

The U.S. used the Guantanamo facility to hold individuals captured during the “War on Terror” following the 9/11 attacks, attempting to deprive them of rights guaranteed by U.S. law. At its peak, the detention center held about 800 prisoners, most of whom have slowly been transferred to other countries.

Like his predecessor Barack Obama, President Joe Biden promised before his election to close Guantanamo, but with his presidency nearing its end, the detention center remains open.